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Talent, Diversity & Inclusion, Life Sciences
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Diversity and Inclusion

Women in Pharma: 44% of pharma professionals think that women are under represented in their organization

Posted by on 18 August 2020
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44% of pharma professionals think that women are under represented in their organization according to new data from an Informa Connect Life Sciences study. The April 2020 study was conducted on 432 life sciences professionals from the pharma, biotech, medical device and regulatory industries around the world, with the responses presented in the Diversity, Inclusion and Sustainability in the Global Life Sciences Industry 2020 report. Explore or download the full study report here.

Survey respondents were asked ‘How well represented do you think women are in your organization up to the most senior positions?’, with 13% believing them to be ‘hugely under represented’ and a further 31% ‘slightly under represented’. More encouragingly, 42% felt they are about equally represented, with just 16% believing them to be over represented.

How well represented do you think women are in your organization up to the most senior positions?
women-rep

When comparing across continents, some interesting differences emerge, particularly between North America and Asia. Whilst 50% of the latter believe women to be under represented, that number is just 32% for Asian respondents, with a further 22% believing them to be over represented.

Industry areas women are most underrepresented - % of respondents that said women are 'Hugely' or 'Slightly' under represented in their organization

women-rep-by therapy
The study included respondents from every area of the life sciences, and there was a noticeable difference between the different areas of the industry. At the bottom end, 44% of those working in cell therapies rated women as 'Hugely' or 'Slightly' under represented in their organization - higher than any other area. At the other end of the spectrum, just 29% of those working in microbiome therapeutics saw women as under represented.

Types of Organization where women are most under represented - % of respondents that said women are 'Hugely' or 'Slightly' under represented in their organization

women-rep-by org

As the above chart shows, there is also a significant difference in responses across different types of organization. Respondents working at medical device companies (58%) and service and technology providers (56%) thought women were most under represented in their organization, versus just 27% of respondents at CROs, CDMOs or CMOs.

Download the full Diversity, Inclusion and Sustainability in the Global Life Sciences Industry 2020 report here.

Click to read Diversity, Inclusion and Sustainability in Life Sciences 2020 Report

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